1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of agriculture and more particularly to a method and system for managing agricultural information, and for facilitating the controlled sale, distribution, and use of agricultural products, including pesticides and fertilizers.
2) Description of the Related Art
The U.S. Department of Agriculture regulates agricultural products, weights and measures, and dealers and applicators of agricultural products. As used herein, the term “agricultural products” is understood to refer generally to pesticide products and fertilizers, feeds (e.g., dog food, cattle feed, etc.), seeds, dairy products, and crops, including specifically but without limitation, regulated pesticide and fertilizer products.
Though often misunderstood to refer only to insecticides, the term “pesticide” also applies to herbicides, fungicides, and various other substances used to control pests. As broadly used herein, pests include insects, mice and other animals, unwanted plants (weeds), fungi, or microorganisms like bacteria and viruses. Pesticides are useful to society because of their ability to kill potential disease-causing organisms, control insects, weeds, and other pests. At the same time, by their very nature, most pesticides create some risk of harm to humans, animals, or the environment because they are designed to kill or adversely affect living organisms.
Accordingly, in many countries, the sale and/or use of agricultural products is regulated by various government agencies.
Within the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides a federal or national level of regulation of pesticide products. The EPA defines a pesticide as any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest. Under United States law, a pesticide is also any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant. Drugs used to control diseases of humans or animals (such as livestock and pets) are not legally considered pesticides. Fertilizers, nutrients, and other substances used to promote plant survival and health are not considered plant growth regulators and thus are not pesticides.
The EPA regulates pesticides by developing and implementing policies which require testing to assess pesticide safety, as well as requiring registration and proper labeling of pesticides. The EPA further maintains a database of federally registered pesticide products and assigns an EPA identification code (EPA ID) to each federally registered pesticide product. For each federally registered pesticide product, the EPA database includes the EPA ID, pesticide type (e.g., herbicide, fungicide, insecticide, disinfectant, etc.), and a list of active ingredients in the pesticide product.
Also, for certain restricted use pesticide (RUP) products, the federal government requires each state to license all dealers and applicators. RUP products may not be legally sold to or used by individuals who are not licensed or certified. Similarly, RUP products may only be sold within a state by a dealer which has been licensed in the state. Generally, these RUP products include pesticides intended for widespread agricultural or industrial use and which may, if used improperly, present a serious threat to public health and/or the environment.
The states, on a state-by-state basis, provide a second level of regulation of pesticides by requiring approval for the sales and use of pesticides. Different states have their own procedures for approval and registration of pesticide products. Also, various states require all dealers and applicators to be licensed for certain state restricted use pesticide (S-RUP) products and state limited use products (SLUP). SLUP includes products which may be legally purchased & used in small quantities (e.g., 16 oz or less) but which require a license to be purchased and used in large quantities. There are also special local need (SLN) products which are pesticides intended to address a specific crop or problem in a specific area and which may, if used improperly, present a serious threat to public health and/or the environment. S-RUP and SLN products may not be legally sold to or used by unlicenced individuals within these states.
This invention is directed toward improved methods and systems of managing agricultural product information, and for facilitating the controlled sale, distribution, and use of agricultural products, including pesticide products. The systems and methods disclosed herein are especially useful for governmental entities (e.g., states) and their designated agencies to administer the registration and renewals of approved agricultural products, the licensing of dealers and applicators, the tracking and reporting of pesticide usage, field inspection and enforcement of agricultural product control laws, facilitating the sale of restricted use pesticide (RUP) products, reporting and disseminating information to interested parties, and tax collection (e.g., feeds, fertilizer, seeds, etc.).